Good overclocking facilities are what the majority of customers look for in contemporary motherboards. In this light, the manufacturers establish various price ranges, depending on the product’s overclocking potential. As usual, boards from budgetary lines cannot boast such potential, though there are some exclusions. Biostar A55MD2 is considered to be one of the cheapest solutions for FM2 platforms. Still, its layout marvels by the availability of CPU boost facilities, as well as gigabit network interface.

Design and Layout

Motherboard Biostar A55MD2 distinguishes itself by rather compact dimensions: 226x178 mm (uATX form-factor). The model accommodates an amplifying board that is made of a metallic fusible element. The chipset is cooled down by a small-sized aluminum heatsink, while field transistors are avoid of any cooler. This might signify about some inconsideration pertained to thermal environment. Power supply activity is realized by means of 24-contact and …

New cooling system consists of aluminum base with two copper sills, ten copper heat pipes (6 mm each in depth), a couple of 120 mm fans, and two-section aluminum radiator that contains eighty-six plates. Fans are developed on hydrodynamic bearing and can be monitored by a special facility; rotational speed can be automatically altered by means of pulse width modulation and fluctuate within the measures of 400 rpm to 1500 rpm.

According to the words of the company's developers, Accelero Twin Turbo 690 is capable to manage up to 400W …

Motherboards based on Intel Z77 chip have been lately given much attention, to the detriment of products featuring AMD solutions. In fact, motherboards with AMD chips are in abundance in the market, providing a competitive conditions for the manufacturers and plentiful offers for potential consumers. Asus developed a lot of boards with Intel Z77 chip, but it also boasts the products, like Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0, based on AMD 990FX chip for AM3+ socket. This model is an apt sample of performance, resources and design.

Integration

Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 is developed in ATX form-factor and features 305x244 mm dimensions. The motherboard accommodates five sockets for the connection of fans and large heatsinks which manage heat quite efficiently; heatsinks located on the northbridge and CPU power converter are joined by a heat pipe. There is one peculiar feature pertained to the implemented heatsinks: each of them is notable by an individual fixture type. The reverse side of the …